It took Peter a whole of twenty minutes to fall asleep. With fingers running methodically through his hair, a warm blanket, his teammate's casual chatter, and Tony's free arm wrapped around him, it was all he could ask for. It was so domestic and cozy, so safe.
Natasha joined the group just after Peter passed out. She wanted to check on everyone and needed to see Peter for herself. She trusted her teammates, but the spy was extremely protective over her spider baby.
"I wanted to check in on my baby spider." She'd said, a motherly look in her eyes and a big smile on her lips once she caught sight of the sleeping vigilante.
The group fell into companionable conversation, quietly discussing everything and nothing as they halfheartedly watched tv; their focus primarily on their youngest teammate. It was quiet, relaxing, and peaceful. Bruce and Scott nearly started to drift off as well.
Tony waited another hour to join the conversation, simply content to hold Peter and pet his honey-brown curls, something they both enjoyed. He wasn't leaving here without Peter. No matter what it took, he was adopting him and wouldn't take no for an answer. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the talking stop or the vibrations coming deep within Peter's chest.
"Is... is he purring?" Natasha looked to Tony for an answer, to which he sputtered out an unintelligible, "huh."
Scott sprung up and leaned down in front of Peter, his ear just an inch above his chest. "Holy shit!" he whisper-yelled. "He is!"
Tony swatted him away, slapping the back of his head, hard enough to hurt but not jolting enough to wake Peter, whose senses were very sensitive. He kept his expression neutral but found it incredibly endearing that Peter purred when he was content. Natasha even cooed at the sight. He really did have the cutest kid.
******
"What the fuck!"
Peter spun around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. May stood in his doorway, shaking, from anger or shock, he didn't know, probably both. He attempted to explain the suit, about the spider, stuttering out how he was helping people and that Tony had saved his life countless times. What worried him was how silent his aunt was. He'd expected her to cry, sob and scream. Instead, she was eerily still.
"May? May, please... I just- please say something!" He squeezed his mask in a white knuckle grip, heart pounding in his ears and any other words stuck in his throat. When May did speak, just a single word, his heart shattered.
"Ben." Her eyes overflowed with fresh tears, and she took a step back. Peter could hear her heart racing, smelled the anger and fear radiating off her like a heavy perfume.
"Please-please listen." He reached for her, but she flinched back as if his touch was poison. It hurt so much to see her - one of the only people he ever cared about, ever loved - shy away from him.
******
"You're nothing but a freak of nature, a waste of space! Something like you should be in a lab." She waved around an empty wine bottle as she ranted and paced back and forth, unknowingly repeating the same cruel words his parents used to tell him. "Why would I feed the monster that killed my husband?"
Peter sat huddled in the corner of the kitchen, knees too his chest and back hunched, tears streaming down his cheeks. He dared not move or speak, keeping his eyes trained on the floor as his once sweet and loving aunt screamed her throat raw.
He hadn't eaten for three days, but it felt and looked like he hadn't eaten for months. It hurt to move, to cry, to think. May was screaming at him again. But while anger and grief consumed her, guilt and loneliness consumed Peter.
******
"Kid? Peter... bud, you have to wake up! It's okay." Tony pushed Peter off of his chest so he was leaning back against the couch, and desperately tried to wake him.
They were all sitting quietly, watching some random sitcom when Peter began to whimper and cry in his sleep. In a matter of seconds, he started thrashing around, his soft cries turning into sobs and cries of pain. Tony's heart broke for the millionth time that day when Peter whimpered, 'please, please stop.'
Unable to watch him suffer any further, Bruce yelled, "Peter! Wake up!"
The boy in question startled awake with a choked scream. He looked around the room frantically, his glazed eyes searching for a threat that wasn't there. After a few painful minutes - the only sound being Peter's ragged breathing - he'd calmed down enough that Tony felt it was safe to touch him. The mechanic made sure he could see his movements before pulling him back against his chest. Sobs were racking the boy's small frame as soon as Tony's arms wrapped around him.
No one dared speak or move, Natasha, being the exception, moved to sit on Peter's other side, so he was between her and Tony and wrapped her arms around him. She ran her fingers through his brown curls, her nails gently scratching his scalp as she hummed a Russian lullaby.
Peter calmed down quicker than Tony thought he would. It must be the music, he surmised, it probably soothed him because of his heightened senses, he thought. Tony made a mental note to show Peter his mother's piano, possibly play for him, teach him maybe. The old instrument calmed him whenever he experienced nightmares or was feeling particularly stressed.
"Wanna talk about it?" Natasha asked softly once Peter stopped sniffing.
The young genius shook his head once, not interested in dredging up more bad memories. His stomach rumbled loudly, breaking the tense atmosphere. For once, he was grateful for his enhanced metabolism.
"Time for lunch, spider baby," Tony chuckled, a genuine smile pulling on his lips. "Capsicle and Frosty Number Two will make us all something. Right, boys?" Tony quirked an eyebrow as if daring the super-soldiers to argue. But the smile on his face told them he was only joking around. Besides, Steve was a great cook, and Bucky was a great baker, and they both enjoyed cooking for the team.
Only half an hour later, they had at least fifty grilled cheeses stacked on a plate. Peter could probably eat all of them in one sitting, so they made a dozen more. They had just started eating when Clint joined them, greeting them loudly as he walked into the apartment
"How's it going- ooh food!" Clint grabbed a sandwich off the pile and took a huge bit, not bothering to get a plate. He draped a heated blanket he brought from the Tower across Peter's shoulders with a wink. Sticking the grilled cheese in his mouth he hopped up onto one of the countertops to eat. "Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?" The archer was beyond relieved to see the kid up and eating. "Natasha didn't poison you, did she?"
Both Scott and Bruce choked on their drinks simultaneously while Steve turned to Natasha, eyes wide. Everyone's eyes gaze fell to the spy.
She showed no sign of remorse but amusement, shrugging casually as she recalled the events that led to Clint's poisoning. "That was one time, Clint." She rolled her eyes, calmly sipping from her mug of tea. "You need to let that go."
"I was paralyzed for two days!" Clint exclaimed.
Surprisingly, it was Peter who laughed first. He covered up a snort and tried to suppress his giggles but failed. In any other situation, he would've been mortified at the aspect of a friend being poisoned. But this was his life now, and weirder things have happened. Natasha and Clint were experienced spies and who, like the rest of them, did dangerous things on a near-daily basis. Plus, Clint wasn't seriously hurt, and the way they spoke so casually about the incident - going back and forth like it was a joke - made it that much funnier.
Some of Peter's neighbors, however, didn't think it was so funny. As soon as the Avengers' laughter reached a certain level, a voice yelled through the far wall in the living room. It was a man's voice, obviously speaking in Spanish. A woman's high-pitched screeching soon joined in, and it became apparent they were arguing.
"I'm on it." Peter grumbled and stood beside the wall that was shared by the neighboring couple and the Parkers. He was completely relaxed, Tony noted, he'd obviously done this before, and New York, just like anywhere else really, was filled with loud assholes.
"¿Por qué no puedes arreglar tu mierda?" Peter banged his hand against the wall and began balling the couple out in fluent Spanish. "Déjalo si es un vago o Simplemente déjalo si ella está durmiendo. Estas paredes son bastante delgadas y yo por una, siendo asexual, aunque creo que cualquiera estaría horrorizado, no aprecies tu sexo fuerte. Es asqueroso.!" (Why can't you just sort your shit out? Just dump him if he's a lazy ass or just dump her if she's sleeping around. These walls are pretty thin, and I, for one, being asexual, though I think anyone would be appalled, do not appreciate your loud sex. It's disgusting.) The neighbors grew silent, and Peter rejoined the table to finish his last grilled cheese without another word.
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish too." Tony broke the stunned silence, pride, and amusement leaking into his voice. "Che cosa altre lingue voi conoscono?" (What other languages do you know?) He asked in Italian, knowing that was the kid's heritage just as it was his. Another one of the many similarities between the two.
"Alemán, ruso, español e Italiano. Código Morse y un poco de ASL si eso cuenta también" Peter responded in Italian and fidgeted with his hands, a faint blush creeping up his ears when Tony's smile grew wider. "Codice Morse e qualche ASL se quel conta anche." (German, Russian, Spanish, and Italian. Morse code and some ASL if that counts too.)
"Okay," Clint looked between the two, "I have no idea what you guys are saying, or what just happened, but we can get back to that later. I do have a question for Pete, though."
Peter tilted his head to the side and looked up at the archer curiously. Clint couldn't help but laugh; the kid looked like a puppy.
He chewed and swallowed the last bite of his grilled cheese before speaking. "Why have we never heard you sing?"
"Oh," Peter trailed off, somewhat surprised by Clint's inquiry.
"You kicked ass back in that bar," he praised, genuinely proud of Peter's talents. Even if he'd kept them a secret for so long.
Steve shook his head, the expression on his face matching that of an exasperated parent who had just reprimanded their child for the tenth time. "Language."
"Come on, Pete." Clint put his hands together and pouted. "Sing something for us now. Please! Pretty please."
"I'd like to hear another song," Bucky agreed.
"How 'bout it, Underoos?" Tony didn't want to push, but he was beyond curious. Rhodey had talked non-stop about how amazing the kid's voice was. In all honesty, he wasn't surprised; Peter's IQ was above two hundred and fifty, he created web-shooters from scraps at the age of fourteen, had superpowers, and was the biggest nerd all wrapped up into one. Of course, he'd have even more hidden talents.
"Um..." Peter stammered, his anxiety rising as everyone's attention fell to hi "I uh... no-not right now." He looked up to his mentor then quickly averted his gaze. "Sorry. I just... um-"
"Hey, don't worry, bud." Tony was quick to stop Peter's rambling and settle his nerves. The kid never wanted to disappoint anyone, especially him. It was clear as day. Even though he insisted that Peter wasn't a disappointment, that he was one of the brightest people in the world, it never seemed to get through Peter's low self-esteem. "Any reason why?"
"The Daily Bugle trashes Spider-Man any chance they get and the kids at school bully Peter Parker. And while it hurts," Peter hugged his stomach, curling into himself unconsciously, "I can shrug everything off, at least for the most part. But people like Ned and MJ, like you guys," he waved his hand towards the others, "I value you and what you think. Because an opinion is worthless unless you value the person, it's coming from. I don't want to disappoint you or myself."
Damn , was the only word running through Tony's mind. This kid was so wise and mature. The others also held thoughtful expressions. If he wasn't mistaken, Bruce looked... inspired, enlightened?
Tony brushed his thumb across Peter's pale cheek and smiled proudly. "Damn, kid, you never cease to amaze me."